Abstract
In this study, the effect of grain size and precipitates on tensile properties of Zn-1.0Cu alloy were investigated. The alloy was cold rolled and annealed to manipulate the grain size and precipitation of CuZn(4) particles at grain boundaries. Cold rolling resulted in an almost ultrafinegrained structure alongside precipitation of nano-sized CuZn(4) particles. Strain induced precipitates triggered room temperature superplasticity through activation of Zn/CuZn(4) boundary sliding, exhibiting maximum elongation of 470% at the strain rate of 1.0 × 10(-4) s(-1). Short-time annealing led to significantly reduced strain rate sensitivity due to the reduction of CuZn(4) fraction, while the grain size remained nearly intact. This suggests that precipitates rather than grain size mainly influence the mechanical properties of Zn alloys.